Memory
by Sweetums128neo
Summary: Once that button was pressed within Zim's Pak, the Irken's world goes topsy-turvy. One minuet he's a reassured Irken, glad to be doing his mission and serving his tallest. THe next, he's questioning loyalties. What to do? ZADR!
1. Chapter 1

"There. All tied up. Who knew that Irkens would get so weak for this stupid snack..."

Said snack was held up in front of the tied down Irken laying on a metal table. Dib gazed at the orange-chicken flavored chips, not even sure how old they were. But boy was he glad his dad hated throwing the last of anything away. He'd always swore that this bag of chips was the last of its kind out there, and that nobody /ever/ made /any/ more. Maybe that's why Zim had been so mesmerized by the stale, crunchy snack; it made perfect sense.

From what Dib had learned about Irkens, was that they tended to treasure snack foods over most other things, including each other. Which Dib thought was sort of stupid. But then that reminded him of how his own people could be with /killing/ others for bits of inked paper and intangible things like pride. Which didn't make it seem /as/ stupid, but still stupid. Shaking his head from his badly straying thoughts, Dib threw the bag onto another table in his lab, turning back to Zim. Circling around to the back, he moved to hop onto the table that Zim was tied down to straddling the back of his legs which were secured to the table as well.

"Now, to have a bit of fun. Geeze Zim, I should have tried to piss my dad off long ago with those snacks. I would've caught you so much easier, so much earlier."

If his dad knew that the snacks were in Dib's hands, and not stored away like they were supposed to, Membrane would be royally pissed off. Thankfully none of them broke. Dib would have time to do that later. He still needed them incase Zim started to get rowdy; a crinkle of the plastic or the crunch of a few crumbs was all that it would take to keep him from using his Pak or having him struggle so much.

There was something Dib didn't know about why Irkens treasured snack food so much! They ate it because it helped fuel their Paks. Thus the importance of it. It gave them more energy, you see. Not that Dib would clue him in on that little fact. Instead he angrily thrashed around but unfortunately couldn't get anywhere due to the restraints binding him down.

"Release me! Release me or /horrible/ things will befall down on your family and children!" Roared the enraged Irken, antennae pinned back in an oh-so aggressive manner! ...In all honesty, he was a bit fearful of Dib - for once - considering his pod was exposed and the human was capable of doing anything to it! What if he broke it or something? It was very high tech and doing such a thing would be really hard...but not impossible! Just what was he up to? He didn't want the human fool messing around in there!

Dib smirked, rolling his eyes. "Pipe down, spaceboy."

He was SO glad that his newest spying attempt had actually worked this time. It was totally random, he hadn't been prepared at all really; he had planned on going to do something horrible to the chips to make his dad mad. Just because. He would've recorded it too... But instead he had found himself at Zim's house. Fighting ensued, but when the crinkling of the bag had been heard, Zim froze.

Dib took advantage of that, and tackled him taking the bag of chips out and crinkling them softly. That got Zim to stop squirming and quickly, as he had eyed the chips. The rest was easy really. Well sort of. His belt hadn't made too good of a restraint but he managed to get Zim back to his lab without breaking any of the chips. Grinning very evilly, he scooched up a little on his lower back to have better access. Letting his finger roam over the outside of the Pak first, he took verbal notes for his computer to record.

"Subject; Pak." he began, "The Pak of an Irken is...very smooth. Even though it's quite hard, when pressed in the right places--on the pink coloured plates and just at where the metal meets the skin--it is actually a bit softer. The skin around the Pak is..."

Dib stopped before moving to let two pointer fingers trace around the Pack from the top to the bottom, trying to gauge Zim's response to the skin touch.  
The Irken hissed venomously at all the poking and when he finally touched bare skin. Again he jerked his body violently in hopes of escape but apparently he wasn't going anywhere.

"You will pay for this /Dib/! Mark my words!" Growled the Invader, glaring daggers towards the human boy. Or at least he tried to. It was hard to look around in his position, and crane his neck back that far to see him. He couldn't believe he let himself get in this position in the first place. He never would have thought Dib could capture him in such a pathetic display. Then again, he never would have thought the boy could succeed in his capture period, either. Looks like he'll just have to figure a way out of this! And that the Irken was confident of. He could...figure out something...Hopefully.

"...sensitive it seems." Dib smirked at Zim, reaching to pat him on the head in a condescending fashion, tugging gently on a lekku before returning to his notes. "There doesn't appear to be a way of opening visible to the eye..."

Dib ignored Zim's protests, letting his full weight sit on the smaller below him. Letting a hand move over the Pak, he made to feel around the surface, before he found a little indent near the bottom of the Pak. Digging a nail into the little indent, all three of the panels popped open and disappeared into the Pak so that they were out of the way.

"Ah. There is a small indent at the bottom of the largest panel. When pressed, all three panels open and retract into the Pak for easy access." Dib practically purred, moving up further to lean in towards the Pak.

Carefully, he let a hand reach into the device, fingers caressing and stroking at the wires almost lovingly; this was just so much! Dib was like a kid in a candy store that just got a 20 dollar bill to spend on whatever he liked!  
Zim felt violated in the oddest fashion.

"Dib!" The Irken growled dangerously as his hand plundered the inside of a storage port, making his body tense. His Pak was part of him and he could feel everything he was doing. It was literally attached inside him from wires that protruded from the underbelly too. He just hoped Dib didn't plan on removing his pod...

Dib couldn't help but smirk wider.

"Oh, did that hurt?" he teased. Talking once more to his computer, he continued, "There are a multitude of wires and small switches. They aren't labeled of course, seeing as one could assume the only person to do work on a Pak would be the owner of said Pak. I will now see if I can get something /interesting/ out of the attached subject: Zim."

Glancing back down at the exposed wires, he let fingers roam around, feeling up all the wires near the bottom panel. Those were mostly orange and pink wires. The top panels also had different coloured wires and switches. The left one held green and blue coloured ones, while the one on the right held red and yellow ones.

The Irken was thoroughly frustrated with the way Dib talked to his computer. He hated being referred to as some kind of subject and hated even more as Dib repeatedly violated his personal space! But what more could he do but rant and yell? ...Rant and yell some more!

"Stop it! I mean it! I know witch craft!" But unfortunately he really didn't.

Now he wished he would have practiced the strange human taboo.

He'd use his extra appendages to aid him if the brat hadn't disabled them from the start. They were detached and laid off to the side much to his disappointment.

"Witch craft? Trust me, the only person that really knows that stuff is Gaz." At the mention of his younger sister, he gave a shiver. The shiver caused his fingers to move as well, as they brushed against a small button. Looking down, Dib tilted his head. "I seem to have found a small button of sorts. It's glowing red, but is very small. About the size of the head of a pin."

Smirking, even though he didn't know what it was going to do, he pressed it down hard then let go. It stopped blinking altogether, and stuck as it had been pushed down. Zim's eyes widened as he realized he knew of which button he was talking about now.

"W-Wait!" But it was too late. A jolt of electricity shot through his system as the Irken grit his teeth in pain. It all happened in a matter of seconds and suddenly the alien lost consciousness. The Pak whirred strangely before returning to its normal state and inevitably leaving Dib in a wave of confusion and pain.  
Dib gave an alarmed shout, falling off the table and onto the ground.

That had shocked him too!

Panting, he lay on the floor before saying, "Computer, run a scan of subject, Zim." He paused, waiting for the command to register. But it never did. Looking around, he barked, "Computer!" No response.

So that stupid shock had somehow short-circuited his entire LAB.

"Jeeze Zim...such a pain in the ass..." Standing slowly, he moved to shut the panels, done with messing with them for now. Shuffling to stand in front of Zim, he leaned down so he was face-to-face with the unconscious Irken. "...Zim?"  
The alien was still breathing if Dib paid close enough attention. He wasn't dead, but he was still out cold from whatever happened.

Obviously the Irken knew but couldn't get it out fast enough. This definitely wouldn't be good for him. The human may not know what he had done, but soon he'll know just what had happened. Blinking, he moved to carefully untie him, flip him over--he had all his tables fitted with a hole just in case--then tie him again.

Getting a little flustered with himself, he leaned down placing an ear to the Irken's chest; a soft thump met his ears. Well he wasn't dead. Eyeing Zim suspiciously, he sighed in irritation. After a couple of minutes, leaving Dib guessing when the alien might stir awake, he finally began to move. His antennae twitched and a soft groan emitted from his lips. Eyelids fluttered open as he tried to place where and what was happening. When he tried to move his limbs, he soon learned they were immobile! He was stuck - tied down!

"Whoa...What's...What's going on?"

Oh good. He woke up. Letting out a breath of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, a slight worry ebbing away quickly enough.

Placing a smirk on his lips, he said to the tied-down alien, "Jeeze. I thought I was gonna get lucky and dissect you today." He gave a heavy sigh as if this was troubling. Which /was/ in a sense that didn't...make sense. Or something likes that. "Eh, whatever. I might as well flip you back over and see what else I can do. You short-circuited my computers by the way."

Dib glared, kind of hurt that he'd manage that. Next time Dib would invest his birthday money into some plastic tables instead of metal

Zim held a rather confused and unnaturally frightened look in his eye. Just what was happening here? Who was this large headed boy? And why was he trying to kill him!?

"Let me go! Who do you think you're messing with?" Apparently not even he knew. He was shocked - what was his name? He couldn't remember anything! "I...Wh-Who are you!?"

Dib gave him a flat look.

"That's not gonna work you know!" he replied in a sing-song voice, eyes traveling over Zim to look at him. Well...there did seem to be something different about the Irken laying on the table.

Beside the fact that he suddenly got very meek-looking, and...scared. Scared? Since when was Zim ever afraid? At least since when was he afraid of Dib? Blinking a moment, he couldn't quite understand what was going on.

Eyeing him warily, he asked, "What is my name?"

The Irken continued to pull at his restraints and squirm on the table, baffled as to why he was here, and why he couldn't remember anything. "I don't know!" He spat angrily and looked up at him, eyes glinting in panic. "Just tell me what you want!" Whatever it was, surely they could talk this over! Why would the boy want to kill him? Dib's eyes widened, looking suddenly fearful.

Zim...couldn't be playing with him, could he?

"You don't...know who I am? Do you know where you are?" he asked. Watching Zim try and struggle out of the restraints sent a slightly painful jolt to his stomach. That was...almost pathetic. He found himself moving forward, trying to get him to calm down.

"Calm down, calm down. I was joking I won't hurt you..." he said in a softer voice, placing a hand on the alien's chest and pushing him against the table. "I'll let you go if you calm down and answer my questions." The former invader wasn't so easily convinced, though. He heard the intent in that voice! He must be aware of his current amnesia, which was pretty obvious.

He narrowed his eyes up warily at Dib but he did stop struggling. "Fine, just ask me." He didn't care what the questions were he just wanted up and out of here! ...But then where would he go? As he scrambled his brain, he couldn't find a thing that'd aid him in this situation, not a friend, relative, or even where he lived! He was completely in the dark about everything. The untrusting look he received made him recoil back a moment, before stepping forward again.

"Alright. Do you know where you are right now? Or how you got here?" he asked, trying to hide the fear growing in the back of his mind; what exactly was he afraid of? He couldn't be sure.

But it was getting scary, whatever it was.

He thought real hard but nothing came to mind. This just further agitated him. "No. But I have a good clue as to how I got here." He gave him an accusing look although he had no clue what this human was to him. Apparently, considering his current state, their relationship wasn't good. Dib gave a short sigh, the fear growing more.

"Um...right. Uh, do you know why you're on this planet?" he asked, wanting to take a step back but making himself stay. Out of a natural curiosity he usually withheld, he reached out and took a lekku in his fingers, stroking it gently.

How odd!

He groaned in frustration. His head hurt to even think this hard but he tried and ended up with no results. "No! I can't seem to recall anything." Which just intensified the uncharacteristic fear in his eyes. What had happened to him? Of course he wouldn't know that either. But since this guy was hovering over him, he must have something to do with it! "What did you do to me!?"

"C-calm down, calm down." he said, stroking a little harder at the appendage without thought. Not too hard though. "I--I have no idea...I was...looking in your Pak because...yeah. So...I pressed this button that was in there, and...you got shocked, and you short-circuited everything. I'd show you the tape but...I don't know if I can recover it or not. Um...err...I don't know. You must remember enough to talk. And move. Your Pak didn't erase everything."

Giving a small groan, he placed a hand to his forehead as his own headache began to surface. Zim looked considerably worried. His Pak erased his memories!? What??

"Wh-Why did you push that button? What were you looking in my Pak for? Who are you?" Came the long line of questions, not liking any of this. He felt terribly vulnerable and utterly clueless. Who knew what was going to happen to him now?

"L-look, I didn't know what it would do! I was curious! And really, I was just trying to piss you off...I'm...sorry that I did that...I didn't know!" he exclaimed, withdrawing his hand from the Irken's head as if he had gotten burned.

Holding his hand against his chest, he glanced around. He knew now what he was scared of. This wasn't right; this was a taboo. It had to be! To see the Irken so helpless looking and scared just wasn't right. He was going to get smited or... or... /something/!

Turning away from the Irken, he looked to his computer. One of the keyboards weren't smoking, and he moved over towards it quickly. Pulling up a screen, he typed in a command; a robotic arm came down, and taking aim, pierced a needle into the arm of Zim, injecting a clear liquid. It withdrew, and Dib turned back towards Zim, looking very nervous and worried now.

Trying to piss him off? The more Dib talked, the more questions that flooded his head. As he sorted them out and started to ask why he was rather startled by something.

Zim's eyes widened fearfully at the sight of the robotical arm and what it held. He gave a high pitched yip at the needle that pierced his skin tissue and he was injected with some unknown substance.

"W-What are you doing?!" He was terrified that the human was going to kill him! Or may have already with some poison! "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'll do anything you want!"

"D-don't...don't talk like that! Just, be quiet--that's all I want right now!" he begged, starting to panic as well. Looking around, he glanced at the clock. "I injected you with a bit of anesthesia that'll knock you out in a few more seconds. Just...just know that I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

Moving forward again, his stomach gave a painful jolt at the pair of ruby eyes gazing back up at him fearfully. "Just...don't worry. I /swear/ you'll be safe. I know you have no reason to trust me now, but I swear...I'll...have to take you back to Gir..." Despite his reassuring words, he looked reasonably upset, regardless. Why did he have to knock him out?

He felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier...It got a lot harder to focus and by the time that couples of minutes were up, the Irken was knocked unconscious yet again. Leaving Dib to wonder just what to do with him now. Giving a heavy sigh, he looked around and saw that it was about nine o' clock at night.

Ick...at least his dad wasn't home yet.

Looking back to Zim, he moved forward to lift him bridal style in his arms. He felt a little heavy because he was passed out, but really light otherwise. He was such a thin creature. Shaking his head, he moved out of the lab and out of his garage, passing up the still under-construction ship.

It was currently powered down. He really needed to work on getting the A.I. in it to work right.

Walking down the sidewalk, he shifted Zim in his arms trying to stay away from the Pak. Occasionally he'd pass someone up, and they usually gave Zim worried looks. Dib wondered why the HELL nobody bothered to notice that his lekku twitched atop his head, or occasionally his Pak would make a loud whirring noise. Moving to approach the freaky glowing green house, the gnomes not attacking because of Zim in his arms. Kicking at the door twice, he shifted Zim in his arms waiting for Gir to meander his way to the door.

The alien stayed out of it the entire time, adding no more to the human's stress. His antennae swayed, twitching from time to time in a dream his subconscious worked up.

Who knows when the Irken would get his memory back? He didn't exactly /lose/ it, like one would have with amnesia. And with amnesia, it usually comes back. No, it was deleted thanks to Dib's irrational urge to poke and plunder in his Pak. He should have at least figured out what the button did before pushing it!

But then that would be saying he cared about what happened to Zim. Considering how he was behaving now, you'd almost wonder if he did. The door handle jiggled, before a dog-suit clad robot opened the door.

Pink tongue sticking out, his mouth opened wide in a smile and he replied in a high-pitched tone, "MILK MAN! YOU CAME BACK FOR MEEE!!" Flailing his arms, the android squeaked, moving to the side to allow Dib passage.

Dib grinned. He kinda wanted to pet Gir for letting him in, but he had arms full of an unconscious Irken. Not knowing his way around the upper floors--the lower ones were more his forte--he looked down at Gir. "Gir, take me to Zim's room. He lost his memory...so he needs rest."

Gir blinked, tongue dripping slightly with what looked like... soap? Nodding enthusiastically, he munched on the bar of white soap before marching to the refrigerator. Kicked once, it popped open. Gir stepped through, smiling and waiting for Dib.

Dib made his careful way in, and when standing right, the lift moved down. After a minuet or two, Dib shifting Zim occasionally, the door moved open and they were presented with a large, circular room. Gir didn't seem very worried about his master being in the hands of his enemy. At the moment he couldn't even remember Dib was the bad guy.

With his tongue sticking out goofily, and why a robot had a tongue in the first place never brought to question, Gir walked into the room where Zim had his private times. There wasn't much to it, but there was a bed for him to be laid down on.

Dib moved over quickly enough, and lay the petite frame on the bed. Covering the last inch of chartreuse skin, he turned away before his heart sunk a little more. Moving over to Gir, he picked him up and patted him on the head.

"Now Gir...I need you to watch Zim...he won't remember you when he wakes up...but /please/ try to take good care of him. Try to tell him everything that's going on okay?" Giving him a pat on the head, he waited for some sort of response at all. Gir stared at him as if he had problems registering what he just said.

It all kind of just whooshed past him so he remained quiet as if the human was going to repeat himself. At this point Dib should safely conclude that leaving him with the robot would be a death sentence. Of course, he really should have already figured that out.

Dib gave a heavy sigh, taking him over to Zim.

"Alright Gir, look." He pulled a chair out of nowhere, setting Gir down in it. "If you watch Zim, and take care of him, I'll buy you TWO chocolate bubble-gum suck monkeys, okay?" Honestly he didn't want to be near Zim right now...he didn't want to be responsible for him right at the moment. At the moment...

Gir took another moment to think before suddenly giving Dib a thumbs up!

"Gotcha!" A couple of suck monkeys seemed awfully good right now though who knows how long Gir's attention would hold up? He had problems with short attention spans and may forget a second later. But hopefully for Zim's sake, the robot will be able to shed some light on things once he's woke up. Rubbing at his temples in a fashion that really conveyed the headache pounding his brain, he scratched behind Gir's ear, and the robot gave a whine of happiness.

"Good then, Gir. Now, if you don't take care of Zim, no suck monkeys, okay?" The little robot nodded, smiling with his tongue sticking out. "Right. I'm leaving now...be good Gir. And try not to scare Zim too badly when he wakes up..." Another nod, before Gir stared at Zim. Sighing for the umpteenth time within the hour, he moved back over to the elevator and asked the computer to take him to the living-room floor.

The computer obliged while Gir was left staring at Zim. The robot wouldn't take his eyes off of him and waited patiently for him to stir...and struggling madly not to lose focus. It was a real challenge for the android! Especially when so many other things were just beckoning him to lose attention off his current task and put that attention somewhere else.

The dancing muffins... they were calling...

Stepping out, Dib glanced around the base. Oh, such a strong temptation to poke around.

"I wouldn't, you know. I may not care one way or another, but I can't control other defenses that Zim has put up. So...explore at your own risk." a voice from nowhere, yet seemingly everywhere, offered in a bored manner. Rather like it would /love/ to be anywhere but here at the moment.

"Uh...yeah. I'll leave then. I know Gir will probably screw something up...so watch out for Zim, alright?"

A loud, irritated sigh came, and the computer replied, "Sure, sure...Oh, by the way I turned the gnomes off for you. But you've got five seconds. I can only turn them off once a day."

Blinking rapidly, Dib dashed out the front door. As he reached the end of the sidewalk, lazars began shooting at him. Yelping almost pitifully, he hightailed it down the street and back towards his home.


	2. Chapter 2

Zim was out of it for about thirty more minutes before he began to stir. GIR continued to stare and the alien's eyes fluttered open. The robot became ecstatic--and just as it was starting to get bored! The Irken stretched his arms up and opened his eyes, glancing up at the ceiling. For a moment, his mind was a blank slate until he remembered /Dib/ hovering over him. He sat up immediately, alarmed, but saw nothing around, and hey! He wasn't restrained any longer! But no other thoughts came to him, no memories... Not even when he laid eyes on the scary, giggling android next to him. "Wh-What the??" He stood up on the bed and backed away, alarmed. What /was/ that thing? Where was he now?! Looking around, he didn't recognize the place at all.

Gir grinned about a mile wide, before latching himself to his captain's waist. "MASTAH! YOU CAME BACK!!" he screeched in a voice almost too high to comprehend, giggling as he nuzzled the amnesiac's chest. "The big-headed milk man said I'mma sposed to take care of you! I'LL GET TWO SUCKMONKEYS IF I DO!" Letting go, he jumped down and ran around the room for a minuet or so, trying to release his pent-up bordeom via the walls and ceiling.

Zim nearly squealed in horror as the thing attached to him. "G-Get off!" He stuttered but the robot spoke over him, leaving the alien a little confused. This thing was supposed to look out for him? He blinked dumbly as GIR ran around the room, not sure what to think. Ughh, he was so confused! He hated this! The Irken hopped off of the bed, keeping a wary eye out on the SIR unit while he tried to figure out what to do with himself.

Gir stopped suddenly, rolling accross the floor and effectivly tripping up the confused Irken. Coming to a stand at his side, he smiled happily. The computer gave a sigh, before he buzzed, "I wouldn't rely on Gir too much. He's pretty much stuck in happy-stupid mode right now, because you woke up. Hmmm... you may need an introduction..." it pondered for a moment.

"If you couldn't figure it out already, I'm the computer that runs this base. Gir is a defective SIR unit...usually he has his dog disguise on but he ate it while you were sleeping..." Gir perked up at the mention of his snack, smiling as if he was very proud of himself. Which he was.

Zim tripped over him but managed to catch himself before falling. As if this wasn't bad enough, he was startled again by a loud booming voice. He had looked up and all around, trying to find the source, before it explained itself to be the base computer. "WHAT is going on? What is a SIR unit? Where am I exactly, and what happened to that large headed monster?" So many questions! Perhaps this computer would be more helpful...

"SIR stands for Standard Information Retrevel unit. They're issued to Irken Invaders. You are a former Irken invader, named Zim." it monotoned, turning down the voice volume so as to not startle Zim as much. "You probably don't know a thing about yourself either. Well, I can't help you there. I only know out from the past few years when I was set up in this spot." Gir was currently clinging to Zim's leg, in a new dog suit. He seemed to be purring and whining happily, tounge sticking out as he nuzzled Zim's leg.

The Irken looked down, torn between fear and interest of the strange robot that was clinging to him. He had to wonder where he got the outfit so fast and put it on without him seeing! Strange little thing. "So...I'm an Irken Invader?" That sounded pretty cool. His name did too! "What else can you tell me?"

Gir climbed up Zim, curling up on his head and smiling happily.

The computer sighed again, seemingly very borde. "Well...I can tell you as much as you can ask. I am your computer after all. No information is restricted unless I say otherwise. So start asking."

The alien looked startled and quickly pushed the robot off before he lost balance and fell. Luckily he managed to catch himself. He appeared somewhat flustered although the SIR was kind of... cute. How it was supposed to help him in any way was beyond him though.

"Um..." Turning his attention back to the computer, he thought of a question. "What was I like? Who are my enemies? Did I have any plans in action before my memory loss happened? Who do I work for?" And he was sure he could come up with more, but first let's see how it handles that.

Gir tumbled off, landing on his bottom before giving a sniffle.

"Right...let's see. You were, from my senseries, an egotistical Irken. You were rash, sometimes cold, smart, quick-witted...depending on the situation. Quick to anger as well. You got very offended when one would call you short." Trailing off a moment, it begain again. "You had a lot of enemies, but on Earth you only had one. His name is Dib...he was the one that made sure you got here and were safe and...whatever. You did not have any plans in action before you lost memory out of your Pak. You had an original mission to take over Earth, but your leaders Tallest Red and Purple have confirmed that it was just something to get you out of the way. So you have no real mission. And... like I said, you used to work for your Tallest, Red and Purple. They are the leaders of your people, the Irken empire."

Zim looked concerned about several things. "First off...if DIB is my enemy, how come he brought me back here?" He would have thought the human 'enemy' would destroy him back on that lab table. "Secondly...I'm NOT an Invader then?" He frowned. "How come the Tallest got rid of me?" That didn't seem very cool! This sucks. He didn't even have a mission in that case and following that line of logic...what was he supposed to do now?

"I have no clue. He looked like he saw something he shouldn't of...not worried for you persay, but worried about what he did. Like a taboo or something, I don't know. And why did the tallest get rid of you? From the transmissions I recall in my memory, you seemed to annoy them greatly."

Gir sat on the floor, sniffling still as the tears rolled down his fuzzy cheeks. "...muffin..." he mumbled, giving an unhappy squeak.

He pouted at that, antennae lowering behind his head, while ignoring GIR. "How could I have annoyed them to THAT extent?" Maybe there was a way to make up with them...but considering all the knowledge he lacked right now, it wouldn't be wise to try to transmimt them now. He had too many other things to worry about. "Alright, I think that's all I need to know for now..." He walked over to the door but was actually a door that opened into an elevator. He arched a brow as he decided to step in and try to familiarize himself with the rest of his base. Maybe something would come back to him?

Immidetly seeing that his master wasn't going to scoop him up and pet him like he had before, he gave a soft whine and followed after. The little robot knew that something was wrong with his master, but he didn't know what.

"It's a bit strange really. You always seemed loyal. Sorta. Maybe you tried too hard." If the computer could shrug, it would. "Anyways, what floor? You have quite a few..."

"Eh..." Zim thought for a moment. "Can you list all the floors for me? The names?" That would help to decide him on where he wanted to go. He wasn't sure at the moment, you see. He just wanted to move around and HOPE that something came to him. He hated this feeling of not knowing anything; it was like he was empty inside. Hollow and left with vulnerabilities.

The computer sighed, naming off each floor bordely, before Zim asked to be taken to the real kitchen it listed. Maybe he'd find something to eat...or some memories. After a while, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened.

Zim looked around, wishing something would click with him. But the poor Irken was still unable to recognize anything. He stepped out from the elevator and started looking around, going for the fridge first. He looked at all there was inside. It had plenty to eat and now the challenge was settling for which item? He'd think about it as he moved away from the refridgerator and started checking out the house level to see if anything else sparked an ounce of memory inside his head.

Gir followed after happily, sucking up the contents in little quantities and quite noisily. "So, anything triggering your Pak's memory chip yet?" the computer asked, rather bored with the whole situation.

Zim pursed his lips in a pouty sigh and shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not." He wound up in the living room, staring at the strange monkey portrait on the wall. He had some bizarre taste but he didn't bother questioning any of it. He just wanted some information on the life he once had! His memories back! Damn that human for messing with him!

"Maybe if you put your diguise on, you'll remember something. That had a lot to do with the daily things you did..." Gir had long run off after Zim had gotten upstairs. He came back not a few minuets later with a large plate of waffles stacked messily atop each other; Gir stuck it out to Zim in an offering, squealing, "WAFFLES, MASTAH! You's liiiiike waaaafflleessss...!"

"My disguise?" Zim wondered for a moment before he inevitably asked another quetsion. "Where is it?" He couldn't even remember what it looked like let alone where he had it last.  
"Here. You always make me keep a whole bunch of extras..." it sighed out, producing from underneath the monkey painting a pair of bright violet contacts.

Balencing the waffles on his head, Gir giggled when the computer couldn't produce any more wigs. "I ates 'em all."

A loud sigh was heard, before the computer said, "Sorry Zim. Your insane menece ate all of the wigs..."

Zim blinked and glanced over at G. I. R. He brushed it off rather than yell at him though and attempted to put the contacts in. It was harder than he thought and when he got them both on, concealing his red lenses underneath, he started scratching at them. "Gah, they make my eyes all itchy..." Zim nearly pouted but chose to ignore it as his eyes adjusted. "Can you make me a new wig? Or know how I can get another one?"

"Huh. Yeah I s'pose I could. Might look different..." it said. A few minuets passed in silence.

While the computer made up a new wig, Gir approched Zim with a smaller plate of waffles, a bit of butter on top. "Here, mastah! Waffles for joo!" A squeak from nowhere was heard, as Gir stared up at him with a large smile on his face, tounge sticking out. "I made these WITHOUT soap! YAY!!"

Zim frowned at the annoying robot, unsure if he should trust it. He was a little hungry but...he was pretty sure he'd rather settle for a sandwich than trust this thing's cooking. "Then you eat them. I'm not hungry right now." Zim assured, waiting patiently for the computer to make him a toupee before he decided to grab anything from the kitchen.

"But mahstaaaaaah!" he whined, arms flailing with the plate balenced on his head. Surprisingly it didn't seem to want to fall off of the robot's head. "You's always ate mah waffles." He was silent a moment, rock-still before spazzing and yelling something about a chicken, before going still again, smiling. "Waaaaaaaaaaaflleeeeeeeeeeeessssss!"

"Here. It's not the same as your old one, but it's the same color." On a wig-stand produced from the wall, sat a black wig. The hair was pin-straight, and it looked to go about to one's shoulders. It fell in front of where the person's left eye would be, and the rest in front of the right eye was swept back. Probably with gel or something.

The Irken looked it over, finding he was content with the style. A second later he had it on his head, somehow managing to ignore GIR's frantic screams in the background. It was a wonder he didn't go insane when he had that thing around! There had to be a point to its being though, otherwise he'd be asking how to shut it off.

Once Zim had the disguise, he frowned, unfortunately feeling no different. He still couldn't remember anything!

"So, anything yet?" it asked, sounding distracted and sort of bored. It was a very curious program. Most would probably wonder why Zim had programed his computer to sound like that. "Oh and by the way, you can eat the waffles. They're safe, I watched him make them in the kitchen. You used to eat them when he'd bring you some. There's lots of syrup on them too. Sweet snacks are what your race uses to keep their Paks running. Even if you don't feel hungry, you should maybe feel better if you eat some of the waffles. I remember this morning that you refused them." The computer was silent. "Now that I think about it, that's probably why Gir ate all your wigs today. Go figure though."

Zim shook his head with a sulky sigh before he let his attention wander to the food. Glancing towards the robot and his waffles again, he considered the computer's words and decided he suppoesd he could trust it. It didn't seem nearly as crazy as the robot! And...there had to be some reason he kept GIR around! "Alright, GIR. I'll take some waffles." He tried to smile and for the moment put his worries aside about his lost memories. He moved towards the kitchen table so he could sit down and hopefully enjoy a non-fatal dinner.

Gir bounced excitedly, before running after. Sliding the plate onto a placemat already on the table. He threw from a draw in good order, a napkin, a fork, knife, extra syrup, a stick of butter, and a pot of flowers with a little stuffed moose in the middle, which landed in the center of the table. "YAY! EAT UP, MASTAH!!"

The Irken watched for a moment as he did this, surprised at his aim and placement. Shrugging it off though, he simply thanked him and began to dig in. He took the syrup and poured it over the waffles and began cutting it up with the fork next. His eyes wandered the entire time, still trying to register something in his mind while his taste buds swooned over the first bite of waffle, pleasantly surprised how good it was.

Gir danced around the table, obviously thrilled that his master was eating the waffles he had made. Jumping onto the table, he did a little jig then produced a pig from absolutly nowhere. "LET'S GO TO MY ROOM, PIG!" he shrilled, and the bewildered-looking pig gave a squeal. Holding the pig over his head, Gir jumped off the table and went to turn on the Scary Monkey Show.

Zim continued to eat the waffles when a hard feeling of what felt like deja vu hit him. It took him a second to try to grab on to that feeling as his mind was hit with strange images of that dog and himself. So he was remembering GIR? It seemed like a random time to regain said memories while he was eating but the images that entered his head were that of GIR feeding him waffles and a giant squid experiment had gotten loose. He remembered that day...He remembered! This nearly drew a smile on his face. For a second there he was concerned that he would never get his memories back!

"Memories coming back to you, Zim?" the computer asked, slightly curious.

"TACOOOOS!!" came a happy roar from the living room, as Gir flew full speed at Zim's head, attatching himself to the top. "MASTAH, MASTAH! MUST OBEY THE TACO MAAAN!!"

The Irken yelped and fell of his chair, interrupted from replying back to the computer. Yes, he remembered this idiot quite well. And besides company, he really didn't have a primary use. He glowered and tried prying it off as he attempted to get back in his seat. "Yes. I do remember something. Hopefully it's just a matter of time until everything comes back."

Gir however did not want to let go, so thrilled that his master remembered him. "Mastaaaaaaah! You remember me?? DO YOU REMEMBER THE CHICKEN LEGS?!"

"That's strange..." The computer was silent a moment, before a sigh of surprise was heard, "I just scanned your Pak. A switch fell back into place. It seems that the waffles triggered your Pak to automatically release some memories about Gir to you."

Zim looked up towards the ceiling as though the computer had a face while struggling to free himself from his robot. "That /is/ strange." He grunted. He didn't know that would be possible but hopefully his Pak would continue to recover those lost memories.

After the weekend had come to pass, another GLORIOUS skool day started. Dib growled in irritation, chin resting in his hand as he waited for the class to start. There was still another good twenty minuets or so. And yet most of the kids were in the classroom. He gave a large yawn, rubbing at golden eyes tiredly. He'd never admit this aloud, but he spent a lot of the weekend worrying about Zim. Why? Because Zim just wasn't Zim any more.

The Irken had remembered a lot before he came back to skool. Unfortunately he couldn't remember a thing about Dib. At least he knew to stay away from him thanks to his own supposed enemy's help. The alien seemed to get around Skool pretty well. He remembered bits and pieces of it and his mission on Earth although not so much about his leaders and his past after that.

Zim entered the classroom and searched for a desk, surprised when he spotted Dib. He did his best to pretend he didn't notice as he went to his seat.

Dib perked up, looking over to Zim with wide eyes. He would've thought Zim wouldn't remember anything! How did he...? He stood suddenly, but nobody paid him any mind; they were all too used to sudden movements and such from Dib. Slinking over to where Zim was settling himself down, he loomed there a moment, feeling suddenly unsure as to what to say.

Zim noticed him coming over and felt a tad nervous. He wasn't sure how to handle himself around Dib, other than be wary with him. And he was indeed angry for the human erasing his memories and all that. The bastard. "What?" Grunted the Irken as Dib decided to stop and stare. He glared at him, at least appearing like his old self.

Dib flinched back but shook it off as he stood there for a moment. "Uh...hey Zim..." he said.\ 'And lame-o was his name-o.' / Dib thought bitterly to himself. Clearing his throat, he said instead, "Er...I ment to ask...how you're doing..."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously at him, wondering just what was going on inside that boy's fat head. "What are you talking about? Why do you care?"

Think Dib, think...! He had to think of something to tell him. Maybe...oh! "I'm just conserned for a...friend." Inwardly Dib winced, as he kneeled by the desk. "You had me worried all weekend. I didn't hear anything from you." He plowed on. What was the worst that could happen?

Zim's eyes flattened, not so easily convinced. "What the hell, Dib-maggot? You had me strapped to an autopsy table a couple of days ago, claiming you're my enemy, and you want me to believe you're my friend now?" Was he nuts?

Shit, shit, shit. "I never claimed to be your enemy." he said calmly, trying to stay in control of the situation. "And the only reason you were strapped down was because I was mad at you. That's how we fight...it's a weird relationship but I ment no harm, I swear. Usually either you're mad at me or I'm mad at you, we do something horrible then get over it that's just how it's always worked." He sounded very sure, although inwardly he was praying that Zim would buy it.

Zim looked mighty skeptical. He was sure Dib explained himself as his enemy. Although it would make a little more sense as to why he let him go then. If he really was an enemy, what person wouldn't take advantage of his current state? It'd make a little more sense if the two hadn't completely hated each other before. But The Irken was still rather wary of the whole situation. "Uh huh. Well, I think you can understand my reluctance to be around you and all...The whole thing sounds a little fishy. But I don't actually have any proof to say otherwise. I can only wait until I've regained the rest of my memories." Luckily he seemed to be recalling things left and right. But it was still taking a while.

"Understandable." Dib said, grinning happily. "You can start ridding yourself of suspicion by sitting with me at lunch today. I'm hoping you remember that much." Standing, he streached out his legs and smiled pleasently down at Zim. Oh, this should play out in his favor. It should work rather well. And it was sort of true...

Zim still looked rather uncertain but he supposed eating with him at lunch wouldn't hurt. And maybe he could remember something!

From there until the lunch bell passed pretty easily. Nothing really happened though. Skool was dreadfully boring, and he actually started to look forward to lunch.

Once the bell blared to life, Zim headed for the cafeteria, at least remembering where that was. Once there, he got in line to grab a tray and all the while searched the human heads for Dib's abnormally large one.

Zim didn't have to look long, as Dib got in line behind him. Giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder, he snatched a tray and tried finding something edible. The salad looked to be the only thing worth trying to eat. Throwing some into a bowl with some ranch, he motioned for Zim to follow him. Sitting in the far back at a table nobody bothered to even look at Dib sighed happily. Ah. He did love sitting away from all the cliques. Lolling happily, he motioned to the large space. "Sit where you want." he offered, smiling.

Zim sat right across from him after obtaining a salad, apple and some juice. He wasn't too hungry though, since none of this really appeared that appetitzing, but he decided to go ahead and feed himself since it'd be a while until he got home to eat. Looking at Dib, he pondered what he should ask him. There was still a lot he didn't know, after all.

"So what were we fighting about?" That seemed like a good place to start.

"I don't even remember." Dib lied, sighing. "You used to get angry easily 'cause I'd say something wrong. Or you'd say something that you didn't really mean and I took the wrong way. I'm sure it was something like that." He poked at the limp lettuce in his bowl and moved it around a little bit. It had always been like walking on egg shells with Zim, and it might turn into that again if he asked any hard questions to answer.

He frowned a little, expecting something a bit more complicated. "So...we're friends then...but..." Still unconvinced, Zim tilted his head a little to the side in curiosity. "You do know why I'm here, right?"

"Uh yeah. To take over the earth...but...I remember your leaders calling you once telling you that your mission was fake..." Dib looked sheepish. "I think we just kinda...fight still for the fun of it."

Hm. This was interesting then. So maybe the Earth boy didn't hate his guts. Or rather squeedily spooch. "Okay...so if we're friends then, maybe you could tell me some more about my past? Like...when we first met, what I was like, stuff like that."

"Uh yeah..." he replied, grinning. "We met in elementary skool...and I knew that you were an alien. Nobody believed me. Nobody believes me now. Anyways, for a long while we were always chasing each other around and doing stupid stuff 'cause we were both stupid." Dib went on to explain a lot of the different happenings between him and Zim, occationally substituting a few things here or there, like the giant hamster demon and such. "...and so after a few years when you found out in eighth grade that you weren't acctually taking over earth we kinda formed this really weird relationship. The only difference now is that we're both older and a little friendlier..."

Zim listened intently and could have sworn he remembered a couple of things he said and brought into light. After hearing him out now, he really didn't get their relationship though. They were friends but they still fought constantly? He didn't see the point in that at all. Although Dib said it was sometimes fun, he couldn't comprehend that at the moment. "Thank you for telling me all of this. I suppose I do believe you...Some of the things you say does seem awfully familiar."

"Good, glad to be of help." he said, waving his fork about as a peice of the salad went flying. Dib blinked at the fork, before trying to locate his salad.

"This yours, stupid?" a voice growled.

Dib gulped, looking to his right; Torque Smacky was glowering as he leaned toward the molten-eyed teen, pointing at the peice of limp lettuce and tomato upon his head. The bit of hair he had in elementary skool stick out from under the wilted plant. "Uh...it might be...?" he said sheepishly, scooting away a little bit.

"Not good enough, dork!" he growled, moving to grab the front of Dib's treanch coat roughly. Zim looked towards the cranky student. He wasn't sure what the big deal was but obviously this guy had a problem with Dib! So what if a little lettuce and tomato ended up on him? As Zim glowered at the frustrating interruption, some more lettuce wound up on Torque, but from the extra-terrestrial's tray!

"It was mine, stink-weasel. You have a problem with it?" Apparently the Irken couldn't remember Smacky. The jock was an infamous bully around here, but to him he was just a nuiscence at this point. He could take him! Right?

Letting go almost immedietly of Dib, he rounded on Zim. Hoisting him up in the air by the front of his shirt, he glared out from under the lettuce covering his head. "You think you're funny, sticking up for your little fag boyfriend there?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice. "I'll show you what's funny. Kicking that fucking lunch tray up your ass until it pops outta your mouth'll be funny!"

Dib blinked as he was shoved back onto his ass, before gaping at Smacky. He was gonna turn Zim into a pile of green meat!! HOLY SHIT. Dib almost stopped, thinking back to how they really should be acting...and honestly if they were acting this way and salad had flown at Smacky when Zim was his normal self, Dib would be the blood pile of meat right now. And Zim would be standing by, laughing. But since Zim didn't know any better, he pushed Dib out of the way of the figurative and litteral beast, putting himself in front of Smacky instead. So what was he gonna do now?

Help Zim of course. "Oi, Smacky! Lay off Zim you big gorilla." Dib said, smacking Torque in the back of the head.

Smacky threw Zim to the ground, rearing his fist back to land a good punch to Dib.  
His eyes widened, surprised at how strong the bulky teen was. He grabbed onto his forearm, trying to pry him off. He glared at him, seemingly undaunted by his threats until he was thrown down. He yelped as he landed on his bottom and watched him turn back towards Dib.

He scowled at the annoyance, but the Irken acted quickly. When Torque reared his arm back to punch Dib, Zim twisted swiftly and kicked Smacky's feet out from under him.

"What the--?!" BOOM. And down he went. Blinking at his predicament, he lost focus for a moment.

Dib saw this as an opportune moment. Jumping over Smacky, he grabbed Zim's gloved hand and ran like hell.


End file.
